


Time for a New Start

by battlecry7473



Category: Glee
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:40:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27050587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/battlecry7473/pseuds/battlecry7473
Summary: Quinn unexpectedly runs into Finn on a college campus and they find they have a little bit in common in post high school life.
Relationships: Quinn Fabray/Finn Hudson
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10





	Time for a New Start

**Author's Note:**

> I apparently have a lot of Glee feelings and this just happened. Quinn and Finn's dynamics had always intrigued me, and this is a small exploration of if canon had happened differently and they met up in college later. This is assuming Finn never died and he and Quinn were actually allowed to have some development. 
> 
> Something to note: This takes place two years after the original New Directions graduated. I'm playing pretty loose with the time line, but within the first year of them graduating, Quinn went to Yale, and Finn followed Rachel to New York and then tried to pass boot camp before deciding neither of those plans would work out. This is set around their second year out of high school.
> 
> There's a tiny bit of Rachel-bashing, but it's not anything too extreme. At least I don't think.

"Quinn?"

She looked up from her phone and blinked before smiling slightly. "Oh, hi, Finn."

He looked at her in bewilderment before blurting, "What the hell are you doing here?", which he immediately followed with a wince.

Quinn just quirked an eyebrow in slight amusement. "Well, this is the enrollment office. Where you  _ enroll _ in classes."

Finn rolled his eyes as he sat down in the chair beside her. "I know  _ that _ . I'm not entirely stupid. But aren't you supposed to be at Yale?"

Quinn sucked in a breath and looked away. "My plans changed," was all she gave for an explanation.

Finn's brows furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean? You had everything figured out when you left. How did you end up here, in Cincinnati of all places?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

“I’m not the one who’s supposed to be at Yale.”

Well, he had a point there, Quinn conceded internally. She was supposed to be back in New Haven for her second year, and yet she was sitting in the enrollment center of the University of Cincinnati. Far away from Yale.

She released a long breath and shrugged. “It wasn’t all it cracked up to be, to be honest. And as much as I’ve always said I wanted to leave Lima, I got pretty homesick.”

It wasn’t a complete lie, but it wasn’t the entire truth, either. But Finn didn’t need to know the exact details. 

“I was able to transfer my credits, and while I don’t have a complete full ride scholarship, I don’t have to take out a massive student loan,” she continued. “What about you? I thought you were supposed to be off with the army? Or in New York with Berry?”

Finn shrugged, his eyes sparkling with a bit of mischief. “Wasn’t all it cracked up to be,” he said coyly.

Quinn rolled her eyes and shoved his shoulder. “Ass,” she muttered.

Finn smiled, his eyes crinkling the slightest bit. “Seriously though, things just didn’t work out,” he admitted, growing serious. “The army didn’t work out. And, I love Rachel, but our dreams are so vastly different. She knows what she wants. I don’t.” He rubbed the back of his neck anxiously, refusing to meet her eyes. “Not really. I thought I wanted to be a performer. I loved the glee club. But then I thought about it, really thought about it, and I’m not really made for the spotlight. But Rachel is. And New York is so flashy and busy, and it’s perfect for her. But it’s not really me.”

Quinn put a hand to his shoulder and said softly, “Hey, you don’t have to explain yourself to me. I really didn’t mean to insult you.”

Finn exhaled heavily and laughed sheepishly. “Sorry, didn’t mean to unload on you.”

“It’s alright. I guess there’s a lot we’ve both missed in each other’s lives the last year..”

He rubbed his neck again and blushed. “Maybe we could get dinner or something and catch up?” he dared to ask.

Quinn smiled, a rare, unguarded one, and nodded. She looked up when her name was called, then said, “I’ll text you later, okay?”

She watched him nod and then got up to follow the enrollment counselor, wondering just what she had gotten herself into.

\-----

“How’d you find this place so quickly?” Finn asked as they looked over the diner menu. 

It was a small hole in the wall type of place not far from campus. Apparently it was a popular hangout for students, as a majority of the patrons were roughly their age.

Quinn just raised an eyebrow and gave an amused upturn of her lips. “There’s this thing. It’s called Google. Ever heard of it?”

He reached across the table to swipe at her, and she reeled back with a light laugh.

“Okay, smartass,” he grumbled. “I just didn’t take you for a diner food kind of girl. I mean, I know that’s all we really had in Lima, aside from Breadstix, but it just seems so casual for someone as-”

“Uptight and snotty?” she interjected. 

“I was gonna say elegant,” Finn admitted. He looked away for a moment, his cheeks turning the faintest shade of pink, and then he looked back at her and shrugged. “You’ve just always had this, I don’t know, aura, maybe, about you,” he said, hands flailing lightly as he fumbled with his thoughts. “I mean, part of it I get is because of your parents, but like, you’ve always carried yourself like you were the queen or something. So it’s just weird, I guess, to think that you like eating in places like this.”

She wasn’t entirely sure of what to make of that explanation, and settled on saying, “Well, I had to find some place that accommodated your particular tastes.”

He frowned in offense. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I mean, basically you only eat burgers,” Quinn said teasingly. “Your palate isn't very sophisticated, Finn.”

“Sorry that not everyone can have as acquired tastes as you,” Finn replied, his mouthing forming a slight pout. “I mean, yours is better than Rachel’s. At least you eat meat sometimes.”

“Rachel is… something else,” Quinn stated carefully. She didn’t want to insult Rachel, but she didn’t know what to say in a positive manner, either. She shook her head lightly. “Anyways, we didn’t come here to talk about her.”

Finn nodded and went back to scanning the menu. “Right. We’re here to discuss why you’re not in Connecticut.”

Quinn snorted and gave a small shake of her head. “I told you, things just didn’t work out.”

“Yeah, but, what does that mean?”

Quinn sighed heavily and rubbed her face in her hands. “It ended up not being what I thought it would,” she said. “I thought it would be a fresh start. A completely new place, no one knew who I was. It was perfect.”

Finn furrowed his brows. A waiter came by and took their orders, and then he looked back to Quinn and said, “So why did you transfer? I mean, you didn’t come back at all last year. No one’s heard from you, and now you’re here?”

“I didn’t want anyone knowing. I absolutely had no intention of even running into you,” she confessed, playing with the napkin of her silverware set. “I mean, I made a big deal about having my future set on Yale, and then dropped that after the first year because it just didn’t feel right. I didn’t want anyone knowing because I don’t want to be seen as a failure.”

“Woah, you’re not a failure,” Finn immediately argued. “At least, not anymore than I am. I don’t even know what I’m doing here. I have no direction. If anyone is a failure, it’s me.” He sucked in a breath and muttered, “I’m just a loser.”

“Finn, you’re not a loser,” Quinn said softly as she reached across the table to put a hand on his. “You’re not. Not everybody knows what they want to do right out of high school. And that’s okay. You’ll find something you’re passionate about. Maybe not in the immediate future, but that’s okay.”

Finn just stared at her for a time, and Quinn blushed and asked, “What?”

“You’re just so different from Rachel. She kept saying how I had to find what I wanted to do and fast. She made a big deal out of it, like we couldn’t be together if I didn’t have a set plan.”

“Well, Berry isn’t exactly someone I would say was ever too considerate of others.”

Their food arrived, and as they started to eat, Quinn said softly, “Finn, you’ll be okay. I believe in you.”

“Yeah?” he asked, and she nodded in return. He smiled and replied, “Well, I believe that things will work out for you this time.” He coughed into his arm and then hesitantly said, “Maybe, maybe we can wade through this together? You know, tag team it or something?” He looked down at his lap, brows knitting together and said, “I mean, I don’t really know how that would work, but I can cheer you on and maybe you can do the same for me?”

Quinn laughed and smiled affectionately. “I think we can make something work.”

“Cool. Cool. Do you think you could also help me with math? I have to take an algebra class and it still really confuses me, and you’re really smart. Like, super smart. That’s why I’m sure you’ll figure things out.”

Quinn looked at him in astonishment before answering, “Yeah, I’m sure we can work out a study session out.”

Finn smiled widely at her and finally started on his meal, and Quinn wondered just what exactly the semester would bring her. It was sure to be an interesting one at the very least.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a one shot for now, but maybe in the future I'll turn it into a collection of oneshots of them navigating college together. We'll see.
> 
> Thanks for reading. Maybe consider dropping a comment to let me know what you think.


End file.
